recently I have been in my favorite cinema at Friesenplatz in Cologne and watched this film. The main character is performed by Collin Farrell in a surprisingly intense way, in a story that starts quietly with opulent images in Macau.
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Lord Doyle is addicted to card playing and he is broke. As a last attempt to win big, he goes out and tries his luck at the Rainbow casino, where he meets Dao Ling, a beautiful young lady who worked there. Apparently she can borrow money to players and that’s why she catches his attention.
As they walk out, he tries to convince her to lend him money and we see the streets of Macau, with a colorful procession as a festival is approaching: Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. She tells him about this festival and they part, no money for Lord Doyle.
The way the story unfolds has a poetic feeling to it, the city full of lights contrasting with Lord Doyle’s despair and the messy hotel room he lives in. He lives in the luxurious suite with big window panes and his room is full of empty champagne bottles and 2 or 3 of those room service tables and his worn clothes lie on the floor. When he leaves he tries to hide but the receptionist sees him and reminds him of the open invoice that he has to pay asap.
There comes in a private detective (Tilda Swinton) who takes a selfie of herself and Lord Doyle in the elevator. We get a plot twist as apparently he is a thief living on stolen money … Which he denied of course.
It starts to look like he is trapped and there is no way out, but Lord Doyle goes on and the unfolding drama catches you … I found the way that the suspense builds up manageable (will he make it? he seems to be a nice man) and kept hoping that this story has a happy end. He found support in unexpected places and I won’t ruin the surprise so you can go and watch this too.
Luckily the show I chose (OmU) played the original language and some German titles so I could enjoy the original sound of the film. Unluckily I didn’t find any royalty free photos to add here, but you will find plenty of photos on the web when searching for the film’s title.